GHANA AT 50: U.S.-GHANA RELATIONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ACCRA 000474 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC EAID ECON ETRD GH PGOV PHUM PREL SUBJECT: GHANA AT 50: U.S.-GHANA RELATIONS REF: A. ACCRA 285 ¶B. ACCRA 286 ¶C. ACCRA 314 ¶D. ACCRA 321 ACCRA 00000474 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (U) Summary: This is the fifth in a series of scene setter cables focusing on Ghana at 50. Despite periods of friction in our relations, Ghana and the U.S. have had strong, positive ties for the past decade and are now at an all-time high. Ghana is a reliable, democratic partner for the U.S. in peacekeeping, conflict resolution, counter-terrorism, and economic development. U.S. interests center on support for Ghana's fifteen-year-old democracy, the promotion of open markets and poverty reduction, security cooperation and enhanced people-to-people ties. Our bilateral relationship will be increasingly important in light of Ghana's growing global leadership position. End summary. -------------- The Ups and Downs -------------- ¶2. (U) Ghana,s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, made a 10-day visit to the United States in 1958, meeting President Eisenhower and promoting his new country. However, relations progressively soured over financing of the large U.S. investment in the Akosombo Dam and Nkrumah's socialist ideology. Nkrumah was a founding member of the non-alignment movement that was frequently at odds with the U.S. He developed close ties with the Soviet Union, Cuba and Libya. Our aid program dropped from $60 million at its peak to less than $3 million in 1966, when Nkrumah was overthrown. ¶3. (U) In the next two decades, Ghana experienced five military coups and numerous coup attempts. During this time, Ghana turned to the West at times for assistance, and at other times to the Soviet Bloc. Prime Minister Kofi A. Busia (1969-1972) was notable for drawing close to the West, with strong bilateral relations with the United States. J.J. Rawlings seized power for the second time in 1981. In the mid-80s, relations were strained by a series of diplomatic incidents and Rawlings' close ties with Libya. ¶4. (U) In 1992, with the Cold War over, Ghana transitioned to democracy, adopting a new constitution. Ghana also turned increasingly to Western donors and the IMF/World Bank for economic assistance. In the context of these changes, President Rawlings made an official visit to the U.S. in 1995, the first visit by a Ghanaian head of state in more than thirty years. President Clinton reciprocated in 1998, the first and only sitting U.S. President to visit Ghana. This was the beginning of a warming relationship with the United States that has only grown stronger under President John Kufuor. -------------- Current U.S.- Ghana Foreign Relations -------------- ¶5. (U) Ghana-U.S. relations are now at an all time high. President Kufuor has met President Bush seven times, former President Carter three times, and hosted the successful visit to Ghana of First Lady Laura Bush in January 2006. In his February 2007 State of the Nation address, President Kufuor mentioned the United States three times, in reference to the Millennium Challenge Compact, the upcoming AGOA Forum, and private sector U.S. energy firms (the only other foreign country mentioned in his speech was China). As further evidence of these growing ties, seven Cabinet ministers attended our Fourth of July reception in 2006 -- the best attendance in recent memory. ¶6. (SBU) A 2006 Opinion Analysis report by the Department's Office of Research found that 70 percent of Ghanaians have a positive opinion of the United States and that this figure has been consistent over the past three years. A separate 2006 Office of Research survey found that Ghanaians most admire America's economic success, technological achievements and political system, although support for U.S global leadership dropped 15 points between 2004 and 2006. ACCRA 00000474 002.2 OF 003 ¶7. (U) Key building blocks of the broad U.S.-Ghana relationship are: supporting democracy, encouraging economic growth and trade, improving health care and education services, and enhancing security cooperation. ¶8. (U) Governance: The United States supported the 2004 election with 50 teams of Embassy observers and over $1 million in assistance to the Electoral Commission and NGOs. We have a small Democracy and Human Rights Fund grant program and plan to train the udiciary and police in anti-trafficking in persos. USAID has a program to strengthen parliamentand local government. We sent five Supreme Court justices on an International Visitor program. We have organized regular roundtables for human rights activists and hosted events to support a greater role for Ghanaian women. For the past fifteen years, we have provided counternarcotics training and equipment as well as community and basic police training. ¶9. (U) USG Assistance: For a number of years, Ghana has received substantial levels of USG assistance, including approximately $50-$60 million annually from USAID focused on health, education, HIV/AIDS, trade and investment, democracy and governance. The USG has provided an additional $10-$25 million annually for other programs including Peace Corps and security cooperation. On August 1, 2006 Ghana signed a $547 million Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Compact, the largest-ever such agreement, focused on accelerating growth and reducing poverty through private sector-led agri-business. The agreement entered into force on February 16, 2007 and approximately $50 million is expected to be disbursed under the agreement in 2007. The Peace Corps launched its first program in the world in Ghana in 1961. It now has around 140 volunteers in Ghana each year. ¶10. (U) Trade: The U.S. and Ghana have a relatively dynamic trade relationship. U.S. exports to Ghana in 2006 were approximately $289.7 million, down from a high of $338 million in 2005. With the exception of the decrease in 2006, U.S. trade with Ghana has experienced steady growth for the past five years and is expected to continue to grow. Ghana is consistently the fifth or sixth largest market in sub-Saharan Africa for U.S. goods. U.S. imports are equal to about $14 per capita, which is equivalent to about 3.5 percent of GDP per capita. The U.S. is the fifth largest foreign direct investor in Ghana, with major investments in mining, off-shore oil exploration and manufacturing (primarily food processing). ¶11. (U) Security: Ghana provides solid cooperation in counter-terrorism and has signed 12 of the 13 UN terrorism conventions. We have a robust mil-mil relationship, in part as recognition of Ghana's outstanding contribution to peacekeeping (Ghana is the fourth largest contributor to UN peacekeeping forces worldwide) and to regional stability. Over the past few years, this has included dozens of Flag Officer visits, assistance to the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Center, several major ship visits, and a State Partnership program with North Dakota. ¶12. (U) Public Diplomacy: The Embassy has had an active Muslim outreach program for several years, with about $12 million in USG assistance each year focused on Muslim communities. We have an American Corner in Tamale, a largely Muslim city in Northern Region. We have also forged a number of new partnerships between Ghanaian and U.S. universities and polytechnics. Embassy Accra has the second largest Fulbright program in Africa and the third largest number of Humphrey alumni in the world. Ghana is home to the W.E.B. DuBois Centre, which commemorates W.E.B. DuBois, who lived in Ghana at the end of his life and was buried here. The Embassy enjoys close relations with the DuBois Centre and has provided it with assistance. There are also approximately 5,000 registered American citizens living in Ghana and people-to-people ties are very strong. ¶13. (SBU) Multilateral Diplomacy: Ghana has shown global leadership in ECOWAS, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, on the UN Human Rights Council and on the International Atomic Energy Agency Board. In the past year, the GOG has supported the United States on a number of issues coming before these international organizations, including ACCRA 00000474 003.2 OF 003 support for sanctions on Iran, endorsement of Guatemala (versus Venezuela) for a UNSC seat, and criticism of Burma's human rights record. Ghana's commitment to peace and democracy in Africa and globally are consistent with and often support USG interests. Nonetheless, past support on UN votes has been disappointing. In 2005, Ghana supported the USG on UN votes 14.9% of the time (20% on important votes to us),which is worse than the global average of 25% and slightly lower than in 2004, according to the Department's 2005 report on UN Voting Practices. -------------- Some Dissent -------------- ¶14. (SBU) Some contacts believe the US-Ghana relationship is underdeveloped. For example, K.B. Asante, former head of the African Affairs Secretariat and career diplomat, stated that although Kufuor enjoys excellent relations with the U.S., he needs to do more to actively exploit the relationship. Asante went on to say Ghana,s problem was that it should study the U.S. economic model and methods and to duplicate them within Ghana for the long-term, rather than focusing narrowly on seuring aid money for the short term. ¶15. (U) A sall minority has been critical of Kufuor's strongrelationship with the U.S. James Victor Gbeho, aformer foreign minister in the revious National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, criticized the NPP for being too close to the U.S. As examples he cited the GOG's decision not to speak out against U.S. policy in Iraq as well as its agreement not to prosecute U.S. military personnel under Ghanaian law for crimes committed in Ghana. While the Ghanaian media is generally favorable and uncritical about the United States, a small group of Nkrumahists and Nkrumahist media consistently criticize the U.S. in strong dogmatic terms. The NDC media is also frequently critical of the U.S. Despite some level of criticism, NDC and other opposition leaders have told us repeatedly that, if in power, they would continue to seek strong positive ties with the United States. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶16. (SBU) As with any bilateral relationship, Ghana will not always agree with us. There will continue to be irritants such as investment disputes, visa complaints, frustrations about narcotics trafficking and other issues. However, we expect these will stay manageable, even if the NDC wins in the 2008 election. The new high in our relationship is paying dividends by supporting a relatively stable democracy in a troubled region. Its importance will only grow with Ghana's increasing global leadership role, including its new position as Chair of the African Union. End comment. BRIDGEWATER